1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vacuum system including a vacuum pump and at least one to-be-evacuated recipient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The state of the art (DE 24 16 808 A1) discloses a sealing element for vacuum purposes. The known sealing element is formed of metal because sealing elements which are formed of an elastomeric material are not heat-resistant and, therefore, cannot be used at high temperatures. In particular, when the recipient becomes heated, the elastomeric sealing elements become unusable because these sealing elements have a tendency to outgasing and, thus, “contaminate” the vacuum. In addition, often, the elastomeric sealing elements become permeable, i.e., gases can wander through the elastomeric element.
The drawback of the state-of-the art metal sealing elements consists in that they, as a rule, can be used only once or, at most, several times because the metal does not have the advantage of the elastomeric material, namely, an elastic deformability. Therefore, with each strong deformation, a new sealing element should be used. Because the metal sealing elements are often formed of an expensive material (copper, indium, gold or the like), the costs of the metal sealing elements are relatively high.
State of the art (DE 24 16 808 A1) suggests to form a seal of metal and a centering ring as a spring ring with a radial slot. However, this shape is very expensive and, therefore, this sealing element is very costly.
Known are UHV (ultra high vacuum)—flanges. These flanges have cutting edges and, e.g., copper sealing elements. Between two flanges, a copper ring is arranged. The concentrically extending cutting edges of the flanges penetrate in the copper and form a metal sealing which is characterized by an extremely low leakage and permeability and a high temperature resistance. These flanges are also called Conflat® flanges (registered trade mark of the firm Agilent Technologies Inc., U.S.A.) or CF-flanges. The drawback of these flanges consists in that they act on the metal sealing elements. Because of the lasting deformation of the metal sealing elements, their multiple uses are not any more possible. Thus, they can only be used once.
The object of the invention is to provide a vacuum system in which very low pressures are achieved, in particular in the high vacuum suction region, while using an elastomeric seal.